The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine, Part 52

Author: Willis, William, 1794-1870. cn
Publication date: 1865
Publisher: Portland, Bailey & Noyes
Number of Pages: 966

USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine > Part 52

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Great doubt and anxiety existed among the friends of the constitution as to its ratification by the requisite number of States, and when New Hampshire, the ninth State, gave her assent to it June 21, 1788, there was general joy over the country. Immediately on the news being received in this town, a number of respectable gentlemen assembled at a public house and had an entertainment, at which thirteen toasts were drank, each one accompanied by the discharge of cannon. The joyous event was also celebrated "by the ringing of bells, mutual congratulations, and federal huzzas."

Previous to 1792, the whole of Maine had constituted but one congressional district, and had been represented by George Thatcher of Biddeford, both under the old confederation and since the adoption of the constitution. In 1792, our State was divided into three districts, from each of which a representa- tive to Congress was to be chosen by the aggregate majority in all the districts. This mode was found to be exceedingly in- convenient in practice, causing great diversity of sentiment in

1 Mr. Widgery and many others of the minority members addressed the con- vention after the vote was declared, and pledged themselves to a hearty support of the constitution. Mr. Widgery took an active part in the debates : he was a delegate from New Gloucester.

603

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS.

regard to the candidates and frequent ballotings. It was there- fore, before the next election, altered to the present system of choosing the representative by the votes of the district in which he resides.

The first election of three representatives took place in No- vember, 1792; there were fourteen candidates for Cumberland, and as might have been expected, there was no choice.1 At the third trial Peleg Wadsworth was chosen by a large ma- jority over Daniel Davis, the only opposing candidate, although in this town the vote stood for Davis one hundred and twenty- four, and for Wadsworth thirty-seven. Both were federalists. General Wadsworth was successively re-elected until 1806, when he declined being a candidate .?

In 1806 Major Daniel Ilsley was chosen to supply Gen. Wadsworth's place by a small majority over Ezekiel Whitman, who then lived at New Gloucester.3 In 1808, political excite- ment raged very high ; our people were laboring under the pressure of the restrictive system, and the opposition to Mr. Jefferson's administration was active and violent. The votes of this district were more than doubled for member of Congress, and resulted in the election of Mr. Whitman over Mr. Ilsley by about three hundred majority.4

1 The vote in Portland was as follows: Josiah Thatcher, thirty-two; Peleg Wadsworth, thirty; Daniel Davis, twenty-five; John Fox, sixteen; William Widgery, fifteen; Samuel Freeman, eleven; Stephen Hall, five; John Wait three ; John May, three; Stephen Longfellow, two; William Martin, one. In York, George Thatcher was chosen on the first trial, and in Lincoln, Henry Dearborn on the second.

2 In 1798 a public dinner was given to Gen. Wadsworth on his return from Congress by the citizens of this town as a mark of their approbation of his offi- cial conduct.

3 The vote in this town was for Whitman three hundred and sixteen, Ilsley two hundred and twenty-seven.

4 The result of the ballot in this town was for Whitman five hundred and thirty- six, Ilsley two hundred and twenty.

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604

HISTORY OF PORTLAND.

William Widgery succeeded Mr. Whitman in 1810, who after one term was superseded by George Bradbury, his vote in favor of the war having transferred the small majority which had elected him into the scale of his opponent. Mr. Bradbury was chosen a second time in 1814; he was succeeded in 1816 by Ezekiel Whitman, who held the seat by successive re-elec- tions until 1822, when on his appointment as Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, he resigned it, and Mark Harris was chosen for the remainder of the term. Mr. Harris was a hatter by trade; he was born in Ipswich and came here with his brother William about 1800, and opened a large grocery store, doing an extensive business. He was State treasurer four years, 1828, 1829, 1832, and 1835. He died in New York, March 2, 1843, aged sixty-four. Stephen Longfellow was chosen the next term and was followed in 1824 by John Anderson, who held the seat by successive elections until 1833. He was succeeded by F. O. J. Smith, who was chosen for three terms to 1839. He was followed by Albert Smith, one term, William P. Fessenden, one term, Robert P. Dunlap, two terms, A. W. H. Clapp, one term, N. S. Littlefield, John Appleton, and Moses McDonald, one term each, John M. Wood, two terms to 1859. Daniel E. Somes, John N. Goodwin, one term each to 1863, and the present member L. D. M. Sweat. John Lynch of Portland was elected in 1864, for the succeeding term. All these resided in Portland except Dunlap, Littlefield, McDonald, Somes, and Goodwin. Of the senators from Maine since the separation, but three were inhabitants of Portland, viz., Albion K. Parris, Ether Shepley, and William P. Fessen- den.

Maine during her connection with Massachusetts, was favored but once with a representative in the senate of the United States ; this was just previous to the separation, when Prentiss Mellen in 1818 was elected to supply the place vacated by Eli P. Ashman.

The strong party divisions which have distracted the coun-

605

POLITICAL PARTIES.

try for nearly seventy years, did not display themselves until the commencement of the wars which grew out of the French revolution. Prior to that time a warm and deep interest had been taken by the people of our republic in the revolution of France, and the most ardent sympathy was felt and expressed by all classes of our people in the great cause in which she was engaged. Its similarity to our revolution, and the assistance which she had effectually rendered to us, enlisted the sincere aspirations of the freemen on this side of the Atlantic for her success. On this subject a sort of inania prevailed which car- ried the devotion so far as to realize the truth of the remark that there is but a step from the sublime to the ridiculous. French fashions, French phrases and manners were caught at, and imitated as though they were themselves the substance of liberty. Our town was not free from the infection ; we find by the papers that the birthday of Washington in 1792, was celebrated by a supper at citizen Motley's, at which citizen Nath'l F. Fosdick presided, and that artillery was discharged under the direction of citizen Weeks. In another paper we have a communication addressed to citizen Wait, the editor, noticing a similar meeting at citizen Cleaves's in Saco.

But the wild and licentious course pursued by the people of France dispelled the hopes which were entertained by the pat- riots on this side of the water of the regeneration of that delightful land, and of Europe ; and the policy which the ad- ministration of our country deemed it necessary to pursue in the war which followed, changed the current of feeling which had existed and brought down upon that administration a se- vere and bitter opposition.

The people of this town in that emergency were decidedly favorable to the policy of Washington; in 1793, they heartily responded in a public meeting to his proclamation of neutrality, and supported the vigorous measures by which that act, so well calculated to preserve us from entangling alliances, was enforced. In 1794, Congress appropriated one hundred and

606

HISTORY OF PORTLAND.

seventy-two thousand six hundred and ninety-eight dollars to put the harbors on this eastern coast in a state of defense, and an engineer was sent to this town to superintend the construc- tion of fortifications rendered necessary by the threatening aspect of affairs.1 A law was also passed by Congress, order- ing eighty thousand minute men to be raised from the militia to be ready to march at a minute's warning. The proportion of this force required of Maine, was two thousand six hundred and twenty-six men, who were raised with the greatest alacrity by voluntary enlistment, and formed into one division under the command of General Ichabod Goodwin of Berwick. In this town the zeal in the service was so strong that after the number was filled, considerable offers were made to those who had been enrolled, for an opportunity to take their places.2

The firmness of the administration carried us safely through the trials of that period. But although there was considerable unanimity on these measures, there was still a large class in the country who were strongly opposed to them ; and it was to rally these persons and to give strength to the opposition that clubs were formed in many places, called republican so- cieties. One of them was established here in the summer of 1794 ; the leading members of which were John Baker, Major Bradish, Wm. Mclellan, and Samuel Dunn, who held monthly meetings, at which suppers were furnished at a house in Free

street. The society maintained so rigidly the doctrine of routine in office, that they provided by their constitution that the chairman should be chosen monthly. The members of the societies continued to retain a warm attachment to France, notwithstanding the waywardness of her political course, and thought our government was bound by justice and the obli-

1 The name of the engineer was Col. Rochfortaine; while he was proving some pieces of ordnance in July, 1794, on Munjoy's hill, an eighteen pound cannon burst and killed Andrea Zeldstedt, captain of a Swedish vessel lying in the harbor, and wounded Jeremiah Colby.

2 Eastern Herald, October 6, 1794.

607.

HARBOR DEFENSES.

gation of treaties to assist her against the armed alliance of kings against whom she was singly contending.

Under the law of 1794 above mentioned, Fort Sumner was constructed, as I have described on a former page, and was the only fort which existed until 1809. The defenses now guarding our harbor are, Fort Preble on Spring Point in Cape Elizabeth, Fort Scammel, opposite, on House Island, and Fort Gorges on Hog Island ledge. The latter is in progress of construction, and nearly completed, under charge of Capt. Casey of the U. S. Engineer Corps. When all the armament which it is de- signed to receive in its several tiers and in barbette, is in place, it will contain one hundred and ninety-five guns of fifteen, ten, and eight-inch calibre, including some thirty-two pound- ers, and will be a most formidable battery, bearing advanta- geously upon the harbor and the entrance to it.

Forts Preble and Scammell, named for two very renowned officers, Commodore Preble of the navy, and Colonel Alexander Scammell of revolutionary memory, were commenced in 1808, and finished according to the original plan, before the war of 1812. Fort Preble originally held but eleven or twelve guns, and Fort Scammell nine guns, and would afford no protection to the town under the modern system of war. They are now, 1864, undergoing a most thorough renovation and large ex- tension, and when the present plan is carried out, will contain as follows, viz., Fort Preble, two fifteen-inch guns, twenty ten- inch, twenty-two eight-inch, ten thirty-two pounders, eight twenty-four pounders, ten field guns and mortars, making sev- enty-two pieces ; it is now ready for thirty-six guns. Fort Scammell is fitted for seventy-one pieces, viz., one fifteen-inch, thirty-eight ten-inch, eighteen thirty-two pounders, seven twelve pounder block-house guns, and seven mortar and field pieces. On the completion of the forts, the defense of the harbor will consist of two hundred and ninety formidable pieces in the best style of modern gunnery. In addition to which it is pro- posed, in time of need, to erect batteries on Fish Point, and other available positions upon the contiguous islands.

CHAPTER XXII.

COURTS-COURT-HOUSES AND JAILS-INFERIOR COURT-SUPERIOR COURT-LAW AND LAWYERS-CAP ITAL TRIALS-DECREASE OF CRIME.

The whole territory of Maine formed but one county until 1760, when the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were es- tablished; the former embraced the present counties of Cum- berland and Oxford, the latter all the country east of them. On this occasion a term of the Superior Court was first granted to Cumberland, and held in Falmouth in June, for the coun- ties of Cumberland and Lincoln ; the records of the court, however, were still kept in Boston. The Inferior Court and Court of "General Sessions of the Peace," had been held in Falmouth once a year since 1735. The first term of these courts was established here in 1736, William Pepperrell of Kittery, being chief justice. The Inferior Court consisted of four judges ; the Sessions was composed of all the justices in the county,1 and they were "empowered to hear and determine all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and pun- ishment of offenders," grant licenses, lay out highways, etc .. This court continued until 1808, when it was abolished, and a court consisting of five justices was established in its place. The Inferior Court was established in 1699 and was continued

1 These two courts were held at the same time and place : in 1747, October 6, Mr. Smith says, "I prayed with the court P. M. Justice Came drunk all day."

609

COURTS OF THE STATE.

until 1811, when it yielded to the circuit system, by which the Commonwealth was divided into six circuits, of which the coun- ties of York, Cumberland, and Oxford formed one. Each circuit had a chief justice and two associate justices. This continued until after the separation from Massachusetts, when in 1822 a court of Common Pleas was established, consisting of a chief and two associate justices whose jurisdiction extended over the whole State. The judges first appointed were Ezekiel Whitman of Portland, chief, Samuel E. Smith of Wiscasset, and David Perham of Bangor, associates. The Common Pleas or intermediate court continued until 1852, when it was abol- ished and its jurisdiction transferred to an enlarged Supreme Court.

As early as 1733 the inconvenience of attending court at York by people in this part of the country, was so severely felt that the town authorized the selectmen to join the neighboring towns in a petition to the General Court to divide the county or have the courts held further east, and it was in consequence of this effort that a term of the court was extended here.1 There was no court-house and no regular place for holding the courts before the revolution; they were generally held at the town-house at the foot of Middle street, sometimes at the meet- ing-house, at others in one of the taverns, but always with one exception upon the Neck.2 A large and handsome court-house was commenced by the county in 1774, on the spot where the town-house had stood, which had been moved to Hampshire street, than called Greele's lane, to make room for it; this was

1 In 1735, June, the legislature appointed the Inferior Court to be held at York and Falmouth alternately in January and October. The judges were Samuel Came, Timothy Gerrish, Joseph Moody, and Jeremiah Moulton; John Leighton was sheriff: they all resided west of Saco river.

2 "October 4, 1743. The court this year is kept at Purpooduck on pretence of no tavern this side."-Smith's Journal. In 1776, Alice Greele charged ten shil- lings six pence for a room for the use of the court; in 1777, her bill was two pounds eight shillings.

610

HISTORY OF PORTLAND.

nearly completed, when it perished in the conflagration of the town.1

The frame of the second court-house was raised on the lot where the new City Hall stands, in October, 1785, and fin- ished next year ; it was two stories high with a belfry, and was forty-eight feet by thirty-four; the courts were held in the second story, the first was an open hall. This was re- moved to Court, now the upper part of Exchange street, in 1816,2 and the center of a new court-house was erected on its site the same year. In 1831 two wings were added, each about twenty feet in width, and projecting a little beyond the line of the front, to enlarge the public offices and to furnish jury rooms and lobbies up-stairs. The addition gave an improved appear- ance to the front, and it was a well proportioned and beautiful building, furnishing convenient and safe apartments for the courts, the public offices, and the municipal court of the city.3 This too, after a quarter of a century of use, had to give place to modern improvement. In 1858 the city concluded to erect upon the lot of land owned principally by the county, a structure which would furnish all needed accommodations for the public offices of the city, ample rooms for the courts, and county uses, and at the same time apartments sufficiently spacious to receive the legislature and executive government of Maine, if it should please them at any time to hold their

1 This building was fifty-four feet by fifty, and was crowned with a belfry; the erection was superintended by Stephen Longfellow, Esq., then clerk of the court.

2 The building was sold to the Union Society of christians, who occupied it until 1827, when they sold it; it now stands in Green street, and is occupied as a soap and candle manufactory, by John Hull. Its form is unchanged.

3 The original dimensions of the building were sixty by fifty feet, two stories high and built of brick; the front was finished by a pediment, supported by six columns and pilasters and surmounted by a belfry, on the spire of which was a nicely adjusted pair of scales to indicate what ought to be going on below. The building committee were Richard Hunnewell, Barrett Potter, and Albert New- hall; the whole cost including the additions, was twenty-three thousand dollars.

611

COURT-HOUSE AND JAIL.

sessions in Portland. The lot was then covered by the court- house of 1831, a wooden building occupied by city offices, the county jail, and jailer's dwelling-house. On the 31st of March, 1858, the county commissioners and the city government, by their committee, entered into an indenture, by which the county leased to the city for the term of nine hundred and ninety-nine years, at a nominal rent, the lot of land on the northerly side of Congress street, bounded north-easterly by Myrtle street, and south-westerly by land of Nicholas Emery, with all the buildings standing thereon. As a consideration for the grant, the city were to provide accommodations for the county courts and offices, during the time of constructing the new building ; and during the term of the lease, were to furnish all rooms neces- sary for the use of the courts and of the county, free of charge, and keep the same in good repair. A plan of a suitable struc- ture was procured, to be built of brick on a basement of gran- ite, at an estimated cost of eighty thousand dollars. The next city council, under the mayoralty of Jedediah Jewett, essen- tially altered the design first proposed, purchased an additional lot of land, enlarged the plan, provided for a dome, and changed the material of the front from brick to the Albert sandstone, procured in the Bay of Fundy.

The plan and alterations were designed and drawn by the architect, James H. Rand of Boston, who superintended the construction ; the change involving a large additional expense. The whole cost of the building which was finished in 1862, in- cluding furnishing and the Emery lot of land, for which seven thousand dollars was paid by the county, was two hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars.

Before the revolution, the jail stood on Middle street, where the market-house now is; it was a small building thirty-three feet by eighteen ; this was taken down in 1799, and the jailor's house was removed to Federal street. The jail, which stood in the rear of the present court-house, was erected in 1799, under the superintendence of John Park of Groton, Massachu-

612

HISTORY OF PORTLAND.

setts ; it was of substantial stone work, fifty feet by thirty-four, two stories high, with rooms in the attic, and cost about eight thousand dollars ; the building committee were Samuel Free- man and Judge Gorham. The present jail was erected in 1858, on a large lot in a healthy location, separate from other build- ings ; it is spacious and ornamental, and cost eighty thousand dollars.

During the existence of the Inferior Court, the judges were paid by fees, and of course their compensation depended on the quantity of business. In 1762 they were allowed five shillings four pence for each entry, and one shilling for an ap- peal. . The fees varied at different times ; in 1776 they were allowed for an entry two shillings; in 1779, four shillings ; in 1783, three shillings six pence ; and on a jury trial six shil- lings. At the October term in 1777 in this county the whole compensation received by the justices was five shillings six pence each ; there were eleven entries. At the March term of the same court in 1778, there were the same number of entries, and the three justices who attended received eighteen shillings eight pence each ; in October of the same year there were but seven entries and two jury trials, and the amount of fees divided by the three justices was eight pounds fourteen shillings. On the division of the county, John Minot, Ezekiel Cushing of Cape Elizabeth, Enoch Freeman of Falmouth, and Edward Millikin of Scarborough were appointed justices.1 In February

1 The following table will show the succession of judges in this court until 1811 :

John Minot from 1760 to 1761

David Mitchell from 1778 to 1786

Ezekiel Cushing 1760 1764

John Lewis

1782 1803

Enoch Freeman 1760 1788

Jedediah Preble 1782 1783

Edward Milliken 1760 1771

Josiah Thatcher 1784 1799

Jeremiah Powell 1763 1781

William Gorham 1789 1804

Alexander Ross 1766 1767

Stephen Longfellow 1797 1811

Moses Pearson 1770 1775

Robert Southgate 1801 1811

Jonas Mason 1773 1777

John Frothingham

1804

1811

Solomon Lombard 1776

1781

Judge Southgate was the last survivor ; he died at Scarborough in 1833 at

613

COURTS AND JUDGES.

1763, Jeremiah Powell of North Yarmouth was appointed first justice. The first officers of the court were Moses Pearson, sheriff, Stephen Longfellow, clerk, and Joshua Freeman, crier.' The first term of the new court was held in this town, May 5, 1761. There were but two terms a year until after the revo- lution and the number of entries was small ; in 1776 they were but nine, in 1781 they had advanced to forty-nine, and continued to increase until 1785 when they were one hundred and ninety-six ; they then began to decrease, in consequence of the depression of trade and a great excitement and prejudice which now were displayed against the profession.2 In 1788 there were but fifty-two entries ; from this time there was a regular increase with the exception of one or two years until 1807, when they had attained the unexampled number of two thousand four hundred and twenty-two entries for the year, being higher than they have ever since been, and double the number at the present day. The great number of failures at that period gave rise to a vast multitude of suits.

In. 1790 three terms of the Inferior Court were estab-

1 William Tyng succeeded Moses Pearson as sheriff in 1768, but abandoning the country in 1775, John Waite was appointed in his place, and held the office until 1809, a period of thirty-four years. Samuel Freeman succeeded Mr. Long- fellow, who moved to Gorham in 1775, and held the office, with the exception of one year, until 1820, being forty-seven years. It appears by a statement made by Mr. Freeman when he was removed in 1811, that the compensation of his office for twenty-three years from 1776, had averaged but one bundred and twen- ty-three dollars a year ; the clerk is now paid a salary of fifteen hundred dollars a year, and the office yields beside, an income to the public treasury.

2 May term, 1785, an action was brought before the court and no lawyer was present. The court heard the parties, examined the witnesses, and committed the cause to the jury, without the intervention of any attorney ; they brought in their verdict to the general satisfaction of the people .- Falmouth Gazette, June 22, 1785.

the age of ninety-two. Mr. Lombard had been a minister and settled in Gorham previous to his appointment. Mr. Frothingham was the only regular bred law- yer among the judges of this court.

614

HISTORY OF PORTLAND.

lished, all held in Portland, but in 1791, one of these terms was removed to New Gloucester and continued to be held there until 1805, when it was restored to Portland, where the courts have ever since been hield.1

Anciently when but one court was held in Falmouth the commencement of the term, upon the arrival of the judges, was ushered in by the discharge of cannon at a fort on the west side of Stroudwater bridge.2 The court, as now, was opened by prayer, and on the first day of the term, the court, bar, and minister dined together. In 1765, Mr. Smith and Mr. Deane both neglecting to attend to make the prayer, Judge Powell sharply reprimanded Mr. Deane for the omission.3 . The Com- mon Pleas system was abolished in this State in 1852, and the jurisdiction of the court transferred to the Supreme Court, which was greatly enlarged to receive the accession of new business.

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The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine, Part 52

Author: Willis, William, 1794-1870. cn Publication date: 1865 Publisher: Portland, Bailey & Noyes Number of Pages: 966

Author: Willis, William, 1794-1870. cn
Publication date: 1865
Publisher: Portland, Bailey & Noyes
Number of Pages: 966